1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a distribution board equipped with an uninterruptible socket terminal block, which enables a watt-hour meter to be replaced without interrupting the supply of indoor power, and more particularly to a distribution board equipped with an uninterruptible socket terminal block, which enables a watt-hour meter equipped thereon to be easily replaced, and enables drop wires and indoor power wires to be easily separated from and connected to the watt-hour meter by using an associated power-converting plugs, without necessity of interrupting supply of indoor power, without regard to the confined space of the distribution board and the standard of terminals applied in the watt-hour meter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, electric power, necessary for all household consumers, is introduced to an indoor distribution board from drop wires of an electric pole connected to an electric power company""s distribution lines through an indoor watt-hour meter. An installation of drop wires between the electric pole and a consumer""s watt-hour meter in the distribution board is usually the responsibility of the electric power company, while a wiring operation of indoor electric wires leading out of the watt-hour meter is the responsibility of a consumer and is carried out by a usual electrical contractor.
The watt-hour meter for measuring the quantity of electric energy consumed by the consumer is installed by the electric power company. After about seven years of use, the used watt-hour meter mounted on the distribution board is replaced by the electric power company with a new one. At this point, the electric power supplied to the consumer""s house must be interrupted in order to replace the used watt-hour meter.
For the replacing operation of the used watt-hour meter, the drop wires, for conducting primary electrical power to the watt-hour meter, and the indoor power wires, for drawing secondary electrical power out of the watt-hour meter, must be separated from the watt-hour meter and again connected thereto. In this operation, an electrician has to perform procedures of separating the drop wires and the indoor power wires from terminals of a terminal block, stripping coverings from both ends of the drop wires and the indoor power wires to expose conducting core wires thereof, and again connecting the exposed intermediate wires to the corresponding terminals of the terminal block. However, safety hazards due to handling of electric wires and inconvenience due to interruption of supply of indoor electric power inevitably accompany such operation.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a distribution board equipped with an uninterruptible socket terminal block, which enables a watt-hour meter equipped thereon to be easily replaced and enables drop wires and indoor power wires to be easily separated from and connected to the watt-hour meter by using its associated power-converting plug, without necessity of interrupting the supply of primary electric power to the consumer""s house, without regard to the confined space of the distribution board or the standard of terminals applied in the watt-hour meter.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a distribution board comprising: an uninterruptible socket terminal block including a plurality of socket terminal connectors, each of socket terminal connectors having a pair of wire-connector terminals extending in directions opposite each other and a plug-connector terminal extending from the conjunction portion between the pair of wire-connector terminals in a direction perpendicular to the pair of wire-connector terminals, the wire-connectors, which extend in one direction, being connected to drop wires for conducting primary electric power and indoor power wires for conducting secondary electric power, and the other wire-connectors, which extend in the other direction, being connected to intermediate wires for connecting the drop wires and the indoor power wires to terminals of a watt-hour meter; and a power-converting plug including a plurality of plug terminals to be connected to the corresponding plug-connector terminals of the socket terminal connectors, half of the plurality of plug terminals being connected to the other half of the plurality of plug terminals via plug-connecting wires; whereby primary electric power from the drop wires is directly transmitted to the indoor power wires when the power-converting plug is coupled to the socket terminal block to cause the plug terminals of the power-converting plug to be connected to the corresponding plug-connector terminals of the socket terminal connectors.
The socket terminal block may be made from an insulating material.
The socket terminal block may be provided at the central line thereof with plug-inserting holes to receive the corresponding plug terminals and the corresponding plug-connector terminals, and may be provided at both side surfaces thereof with wire-inserting holes to receive the corresponding wire-connector terminals.
The wire-connector terminals of the socket terminal connectors may include threaded holes into which screws are tightened to hold the wires inserted into the wire-connector terminals, and each pair of wire-connector terminals are provided at the conjunction portion thereof with a plug-positioning groove that the plug-connector terminal is placed thereinto and fixed thereto.
The distribution board may include a wire-retainer provided at covering portions of the intermediate wires connected to the drop wires and the indoor power wires, in order to hold the wires without displacement of the wires.
The distribution board may include a wire-adjusting unit, which comprises upper and lower housings provided with a plurality of recesses at facing surfaces thereof and adapted to be tightened to each other by fastening means, and a plurality of pairs of plug terminals disposed between the corresponding recesses of the upper and lower housings and extending toward both the socket terminal block and the watt-hour meter, whereby each pair of plug terminals are properly fixed at desired positions between the upper and lower housings according to a distance defined between the watt-hour meter and the socket terminal block.